Ore-concentrator.



J. WEATHBRBY.

ORB CONCENTRATOR.

APPLICATION FILED we. 1, 1912.

1 ,071 ,839, Patented Sept. 2, 1913.

3 SHEETS-SHEET l.

J. WEATHBRBY.

ORE GONGENTRATOR.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 1. 1912 1,071,839. Patented Sept. 2, 1913.

3 SHEETSSHEET 2.

Suva H001 means 1 W 7 J. WEATHBRBY.

ORE CONGENTRATOR.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 1, 1912. 1,071,839, Patented Sept. 2, 1913.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3 W 5] u uento'c (9 lxh/tmeaoeo M W of New (umberlanchin the county'of Cum-- UNITED STATES PATENT i V i :1 JosErH-wEA'rHERBY, OF NEW CUMBERLAND, PENNSYLVANIZQgssIgliogBi "IQ.IHE ELECTRIC ORE 'sEPARAToE COMPANY, 01 NEW cUM E3LANp,,.r nnsYLvANm,

A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

all whom. itmay concern.

Be it known that I. JOSEPH VEATHERBY,

berlandiand State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain. new and useful Improvements in Ore-Concentrators; and I do hereby declare the-following to be a full, clear,

and exact description of the same, reference being bad to the accompanying drawings, forminga part. of this specification, and t0 the'figuresandletters of reference marked thereon. i

.My invention relates to ore concentrat rs amlhas for its object to impart effective \v eight to permeable ore particles of a low magnetic susceptibility, the invention being particularly adapted to pulsating or shaking tables for the separation of ore mixtures having such slight difference in specificgrarity that they cannot be separated by the ordinary operation.

Afurt-her object is to provide a cheap and effective means to quickly preci itate the permeable particles of ore in so-ca led slimes and to bring about a recovery of values that are at thepresent time washed away and lost-t It is now. generally accepted as a fact thatall substancesare. afi'ectedato a greater;

or lesserdegree by magnetism and with recently developed machines many m nerals heretofore considered non-magnetic or--not affected by magnetism have been separated by the action of a highly concentrated magnetic field.

My present. invention provides a means whereby the ore mass passes through highly concentrated fields during its progress over a shaking table, the arrangement being such that permeable particles according to their degree of susceptibility will be deflected from their normal course by the combined action of gravity and magnetism, the effect being as though their specific gravity was suddenly increased many times above normal.

I do not limit my invention to any par-.

ticular form of table and the accon'ipanyrng drawings show only some of the many forms ward stroke. This has the desired effect of of apparatus which may be utilized.

llnthe drawings Figure 1 IS a top plan view of a shaking table showing one em-i tion to the rifiles. Fig. 3 is a sectiofial ele- ORE-CONCENTRATOR. 1

Specification of Letters Yatent. "pat t gept; 2,1913 Application filed August 1.1912. rSeriaI no; 712,794. V '1 i vation showing the arrangement of magnet with its adjust-able supports, the concentratmg magnetic terminals on the table deck, and the armature mounted under the table. Fig. L is a front view of an adjustable timing mechanism to properly space the magnet pulsations. Fig. 5 is a sectional elevation of the timer shown in Fig. 4. Fig. 6 is a detail section on an enlarged scale of a portion of the table and magnetic circuit terminals. F ig. 7 is-a plan illustratinga modified arrangement.

Like reference letters and numbers in the several figures indicate the same parts.

The apparatus shown in the drawings with the exception of the magnetic equipments is a well known type of longitudinally.

differential reciprocating table or concenticles according to their relative specific gravity, and carries off the ganguewhile the differential reciprocating movement of the table produced by the usual mechanism 4 termed a head motion, causes the travel; stratification and delivery of the values-or concentrates at the lower-left hglnd corner.

The surface of the table. termed the deck, is

partially rifiled and partly unriiiled. The

motion necessary to be imparted to the deck of a concentrating table of the type shown in the drawings consists in moving it substantially longitudinally of the ritfle cleats 5 upon its surface, and toward the concentrates discharge end from a position of coin. paratire rest with a gradually accelerated speed to the end of the stroke and reversing the directionquickly with a maximum speed during the return to the position of comparative rest at the beginning of the forthe mechanism toward. the rifile tips with a step-by-step -progression. The cross flowingwash wat'er accomplishes the final cleaning andremoval of gangue as the material approaches and .p'asses the rifle tips, and the heavier concentrates, in the order of their specific gravities, pass out upon the cleared ore plane, and are carried forward there- Should there be but a s ight difference in the specific gravity of the material to be separated themethod as above described will not be effective. For illustration, an ore containing a mixture of zinc blende,

pyrite, and serpentine rock is an ore whose content has but-little difference of specific gravity, and so'far as I lmow has never beensuccessfully separated on a shaking table. The. separation of such a mixture of materials willbe later described in accordance with my invention. p

Suitably mounted and rigidly supported in the deck of the table are a series of parallel soft iron stri s or bars 6 .of tri-angular cross section. T ese, strips or bars are suitably spaced apart disposed in a horizontal plane and can be parallel or diagonal with the motion, suitable to the table upon which they are employed. -The bars for forming magnetic rifles as they. will be hereinafter termed, penetrate the deck and are suitably fastened on their'under side to a thin softiron plate 6' which in turn is securely bolted to the wood of the table deck The upper surface of the magnetic rifle bars can be either flush with or extend slightly above: the surface of -the deck and terminate -insharp knife-like edges 6". The edges pronetic. fie

duce' hi hly concentrated areas 'in 'the magld caused by theconvergin'g lines of force. a

' Adjustably mounted above the deck are the powerful magnets 7 with windings and pole pieces 7 and 7" extending parallel with and suitably adjusted above the magnetic rifles. pole pie'ces are smooth plain surfaces with their edges rounded off to prevent upward convergence of lines of force to sharp edges of the pole. To decrease the reluctance and form a path for the magnetic circuit without interfering with the free movement of the.

deck, an iron plate 8 of ample capacity ismounted below andsuitably spaced from the deck. It will now'be noted that a highly concentrated magnetic field is formed by the- "converging lines of force to and through the sharp edges of the magnetic rifle bars where-.

by the action of gravity on any susceptible material will be greatly augmented. Themagnet 7 is rigidly secured at its top to cross beams 8 and '8' which in turn are adjustably mountedon pedestals 9. -The pedestals 9 are of pipe screwed into a floor permeable ,than air.

. pelled.

The lower faces of magnetic flange 9 at the base, with'a cap shaped hand wheel 9" supporting a lead screw 9 in its center at the top. The pedestal pipe 9 also has slots .9 cut in opposite sides to permit the projections 9 of adjusting nut 9 to extend through its wall. The cross beams 8 an: forked at their ends and .machinedto form bearings for stud nut pro- 9f the adjusting nuts are raised or lowered permitting a nieety of spacing of the air gap between the pole pieces and magnetic rifles.

7 As before stated, all substances can, to a varying degree, he acted upon by magnetism. It is true that many of them are less Such substances less permeable than air will be termed diamagnetic. These substances when subjected to a powerful magnet field seem .-.to be re- -Some minerals can be made strongly magnetic by roasting while others are not so affected. The substance that can vjections 9". By turning the hand wheels be noticeably attracted to a varyingdegree according to the strength of a concentrated magnetic field will be hereinafter called para-magnetic substances. Para-magnetic substances tend to follow the converging lines of force in a concentrated magnetic field and as shown in Fig. '6 when the cur-' rent is turned on the magnet the convergence of the lines of force is downward to the magnetic rifle bars thus causing the para-magnetic ore particles to be attracted downward to the rifles, thus augmenting their effective weight. It will now 'be noted that as long as t-he currentflows through the magnetic coils the para-magnetic particles will be attracted to the magnetic rifles, and a means must therefore be provided for accurately timing the period when the current is connected with or cut ofi'the' magnet so that the ore discharge. r

Figs. 4' and 5 show a form of timing mechanism 10 that wi'llaccurately perform the above stated function. This mechanism will hereinafter be termed the timer. suitparticles can progress to their T v. I

ably housed Within a casing 10. is a revoiving pair of fan shaped adjustable contact disks l0" and 10. 10 is rigidly forced-upon the timing shaft 10 while 10 is suitably journaled upon 10". Contact disk 10 has a lock screw 10" extending through an ad; justing slot 10 in the contact'disk 10. The-contact diskscan, by loosening the lock screw, be adjusted to lengthen or shorten the time of contact. Suitably mounted upon.

but electrically insulated'from the casing 10 is a contact maker spring 10 witha contact maker 10*. The contact maker spring is provided with a binding post 10 to which the conducting wire is attached. The loose end of the contact spring rests upon an insulated adjusting screw IO -Which is also mount-ed upon the inside of the casing 10. The casing 10 is journaled upon the timing shaft l by b-allbearing and is retarding the current in the magnet.

intended to be rotated ashort distance either back or forward by lever 10*" to perform the function of either advancing or The timer 10 is mounted on the end of the eccentric shaft of the head motion r by forcing the socket 10 over the end of the eccentric shaft and looking with a set screw. It will of course be understoodthatthe position of the contact disks must be accurately placed in proper relation with the reciprocating motion of the table before it is locked into place. The timer can be connected either directly in the circuit with the magnet where only small currents are required for certain ores, or when large currents are ores it is to be used in a local circuit opused on the magnets for lesser permeable crating any ordinary or. preferred form of oil relay switch. In the latter case the currentwould be of-such strength that it would burn and destroy the contacts of the timer -'if allowed to pass therethrough.

A rheostatsuch as S, Fig. 1, is alsopreforably placed in the main magnet circuit to regulate the strength of" the current and therefore the strength of the magnetic field I as is well understoodby those skilled in the so-weakly para-magnetic that while its efart. the ore mixture will, as a rule, respond to Different para-magnetic minerals in different strengths of field and in addition to regulating the strength of the field more than one magnet with differing strengths of field may be required, one following the *other to bring about a complete separation of all the minerals as shown for example in Fig. 7, where two magnets A and 'B are "employed.

It sometimes so happens that mineral is fective weight when in a concentrated field is appreciatively changed it will only stick to the magnetic riflie barsslightly. In this "case it will not be necessary to pulsate the current on the magnet that governs this particular mineral as the differential reciprocating motion of the table will be sufficient to progress this mineral toits discharge.

Foranoth e'r illustration, certain mineralsto be concentrated contain quite a quantity of strong magnetic material such .as black sands. A magnet with a comparatively: weak field called a first magnet (A in Fig. 7, for example) is to be placed oi-'er theta- ,ble ahead ofall the rest of the strong mag nets, and an alternating current of medium frequency used on this magnet as shown at- T,- Fig. 7, to vibrate the magnetic particles to prevent their entraining other values and h gangue. in their progress to the discharge.

- in the case of slimes having permeable ore particles the-magnets and magnetic ritlles containi r z 'ucleut I are so arranged that the water the values flow thrnugh' the" field. The values will be 'inim'r u cipitated to the riiiics while the goes on with the water. m

Having described the nanisin and action I will now describe tilt.- 115. ion oi' ore mixture containing ziiie blende and serpentine roc ..itl" and -i 'r magnetic intiueii companying drawi g to l and Fig. tle difference between the specific gi'ari. oi' these minerals. For illustration the pentine rock will be considered as Z. L blende between 1 and 1.5% and the i tween 1.50 and 9. The pyrite being L the heavier.

In Fig. 2 the areas between the dotted lines on the table are the Stratified areas that would normally-occur when the table is operated without magnetic action. Gr denotes the gangue strata, M the mid-- dlings stra Z the zinc strata i the pyrite stra If the table be started in operation without the magnets being energized the ore feeding on the table deck 5 from the feed box 1 willprog css along the riiiles and stratify. The heavier particles advance out on the deck according to their specific gravity, and the lighter part-ictes stay closer to the ri; e tips. The gangue partly mixed with zinc particles will. take a position in the space G. The middlings particles which are both gangue and zinc will advance along the space marked M. The zinc partly mixed with pyrite will advance along the Z space and the pyrite partly mixed with zinc will progress along the P strata. t will thus be seen that the separation effected is not satisfactory owing to-the mixed condition of the products. The actionof the ore mixture when the current is turned on the magnetFis substantially as follows: The gangue being a din-magnetic substance will not be retarded in its normal flow. The zinc blende is more para-mag net-ic than the pyrite and will be acted upon by a weaker concentrated magnetic field than the pyrite. The table being in operation all the ore is stratifying and flowing through the gap between the upperen'ds of the pole pieces and the magnetic riflles. Whenthe current is turned on and' gradually regulated by therheostat itis noted that all the zinc particles change their normal course and progress to the discharge iindei'neat-h the magnet poles while the gangue and pyrite which is not affected with this strength of .field follow a different path- The results are due to the fact that the zinc particles on the comparatively slow forward stroke of the table are strongly attracted downward by the converging lines of force in the concentrated magtic field, there fore having their effect ""'=weight changed ier the magnet poles.

' its old position in strata ma ked G but is alsoto zinc being removed.

and when the table deck is now at the end of its forward stroke, the current is suddcnly released and the table deck rapidly jumps back to its starting position where the current is again established for the next forward stroke. The zinc particles advance thus with the table but are released during the return movement whereby they are progressed to their discharge under the magnet poles. The stratification of the ore on the table is completely changed, since the zinc is-rcmoved from its old position in the strata markedZ to the upper part of the table une gangue takes free from zinc. The old middlings strata M willdisappear and will be angue, owing ince the zinc strata is removed the pyrite can have the freedom of space Z and will concentrate clean. There will probably ;be a narrow ribbon of pyrite middlings wllich can be re turned to the ore feed.

In the table shown in Fig. 2 there is a slightly different arrangement of parts but with a similar action as above described.

are comparatively deep. Their object is to receive the concentrate from under the mag- .net poles and safely convey it charge.

to the disff It-will be understood that any number of 1 magnets with varying magnetic strength can be used to separate'the various ore values in a mixed mass on the same table without departing fromthe broad idea of this invention. 0

Having thus described my invention, What I claim is:

.- 1. In an ore concentrator, the combination with a transversely inclined longitudinally differentially reciprocatory dressing table having incorporated therein longitudina l strips of magnetic metal and means for differentially reciprocating said table horizontally to effect stratification and sepa ration of the material thereon in divergent paths due to the difference in specific gravity of the elements composing the material, 1of :1, fixed magnet mounted above the table and having a pole terminal with an extended face in proximity to and above the magnetic with a tcansvrrsely inclined-longitudinally differentially reciprocatory dressing table having incorporated therein longitudinal stripsof magnetic metal and means for differentially reciprocating said table horizontally to effect Stratification and separation of the material thereon in divergent paths due to the difference in the specific gravity of the elements composing the material, of

i a fixed magnet mounted above the table and having a' pole terminal with an extended face in proximity to and above the magnetic strips in the table, and a fixed armature located below and in proximity to the under 7 surface of the table, whereby elongated magnetic fields are formedifs with the lines of force converging towardlthe ore supporting surface of the table.

3. In an ore concentrator, the combination with a transversely inclined longitudinally differentially reciprocatory dressing table having its ore supporting surface provided with riflles, and means for diflerentially reciprocating said table horizontally and feeding the ore over said table to effect stratification and separation of the material in divergent paths,,due to the difierence in specific gravity of the elements composing the material, and strips of magnetic metal incorporated in and movable with the table, of a fixed magnet located above the table and having a pole terminal with an extended face in proximity to and above the magnetic strips whereby elongated magnetic fields are formed in the ore'path with. the lines of force in said fields converging toward the ore supporting surface of thetable.

4. In an ore concentrator, the combination with a transversely inclined longitudinally differentially reciprocatory dressing table having its ore supporting surface provided throughout a portion of its area only with rililes and means for differentially reciprocating said table'and feeding the ore over the same to effect stratification and separation of the material of the ore in divergent paths due to the difference in specific gravity of the elr ents composing the ore, of means (for creatir' a series of elongated concentrated magnetic fields in the ore path over the unriflled portion of the table only, the lines of magnetic force in said fields converging toward the ore supporting surface, whereby the ore will be subjected to a preliminary gravity separation uninfluenced by magnetic action and final stratification and separation is effected under the combined influence of magnetic action and gravity on the plane portion of the table.

5, In an ore concentrator, the combination with a dressing table having a portion of its surface plane and a portion provided with rifiies, means for imparting horizontal movements to the table and feeding the ore over the same to cited Stratification and seps aration of the ore in divergent paths due to the difference in specific gravity of the elements composing the ore, and strips of magnetic metal incorporated in theunril'lied portion of the table. of fixed magnets having pole terminals with extended faces in proximity to and above the magnetic strips in the table, whereby the ore will be preliminarily subjected to separation in the riflied portion of the table uninfiuenced bv magnetism and then subjected to separation on the plane portion of the table under the influence of the magnetic fields.

(i. In an orc concentrator, the combination with the reciprm'atory dressing table having two sets of riflles extending longitudinally thereon, the. sets being spared lon gitudinally from each other, and the arrangement being such as to cause travel in divergent paths of the particles of different effective weight, of means for creating a series of concentrated magnetic fields in the path of the ore between the two sets of ritiles. [g

7. In an ore concentrator, the combination with the reciprocatory dressing table having two sets of rifiles extending longitudina'lly thereon with the sets spaced longitudinally from each other, the arrangement being such as to cause travel in divergent paths of the particles of different effective weight, of a magnet located in proximity to the surface of the table between the sets of riftles, and concentrated magnetic circuit terminals for causing the lines of force to converge toward the ore supporting surface.

8. In an ore concentrator, the combination with a tral'isversely inclined longitudinally differentially reciprocatory table having in succession stratifying and dressing zones and means for imparting reciprocatory movements thereto and for feeding the ore over the same to effect stratification and separation due to the difference in specific gravity of the particles composing the ore, of means for creating concentrated magnetic fields of alternating polarity in the ore path during the movements of the table,

whereby magnetically susceptible particles will be turned 0v and agitated to facilitate the separation.

9. In an ore concentrator, the combination with a dressing table and means for imparting differential rcciprocatory movements thereto and for feeding the ore over the same to effect stratification and separation of the particles of different specific gravity, of means for creating concentrated magnetic fields of alternating polarity mov" able with the table in one direction only, whereby the magnetically susceptible material will be turned over, agitated to facilitate the separation of the feeding of the HHIHU'UVUI' the table assisted.

10. In an ore concentrator, the combination with a slightly inclined dressing table having in succession stratifying and dress:

particles and the ing zones. with means for feeding the ore over said table to effect Stratification and separation of the ore particles of different specific gravity and strips of magnetic material incorporated in the table and having parallel longitudinally arranged terminal edges of relatively small area, of fixed mag- ,nets having pole terminals with extended faces in proximity to the surface of the table whereby elongated magnetic fields are the lines of formed in the ore path with force converging toward the ore supporting surface of the table, substantially as described.

11. In a concentrator, the combination with a fixed magnet having a pole terminal provided with a substantially fiat face of extended area, of a horizontally movable dressing table mounted in proximity to the face of the pole terminal and having in succession stratifying and dressing zones. and also having incorporated therein strips of magnetic material with narrow terminal edges located at the level of the ore supporting surface in proximity to the face of the pole terminal of the magnet.

JOSEPH \VEATHERBY. \Vitnesses THOMAS DURANT, ALEXANDER S. STEWART. 

